MONTGOMERY, Alabama - High school girls from every Alabama county are gathered at Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Ala., this week, rehearsing for the Distinguished Young Women scholarship competition beginning today and concluding tomorrow.

The finals will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at Frazer.

The girls will be judged by the following categories according to the Distinguished Young Women website: Scholastics (20% of overall score), Interview (25% of overall score), Talent (25% of overall score), Fitness (15% of overall score), and Self-Expression (15% of overall score).

The winner of the Alabama competition will participate in the National Finals competition in Mobile, Ala., in June.

According to the Distinguished Young Women website, the organization was founded in 1958 in Mobile, Ala., and is the largest and oldest national scholarship program for high school girls.

In that time, the program has awarded more than $93 million in cash scholarships at the local, state and national levels.